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Tuesday, August 28

I have been seeing posts about the Bella Stamps in various threads in the Splitcoast Stampers Website. I was like... what's with it??? Finally, my curiosity gave in, and I went to their website: www.stampingbella.com. The designs are really cool. Totally different. It's hip, chic... not like the usual stamps you see in most craft stores. So that's why these ladies were going gaga over these stamps! I decided to buy 4 stamps... and I tell you, I wanted more! They were Teachabella, Bridalpartybellas, Sistahoodbellas and Shopabellas. Despite it coming from Canada, I didn't have to wait long for it to arrive in the mail. I was a little disappointed because the stamps weren't mounted. If the stamps were clear, it would be fine. So I had to use an acrylic block to stamp. But oh well, the designs were still neat! I was browsing through their website and I was so surprised to see a Bella stamp designed after Imelda Marcos! It's called Imeldabella. Of course, the Bella was holding several boxes of shoes! I thought that was really cool! I wanted more of the Bellas, so I joined 2 Bella Image Swaps. I've received my swaps for the first one, and I was amazed at the beautiful designs. Now I can't wait for the next batch to come. Stamping Bella is a brand that would be surely nice to collect.

If you want to see what Stamping Bella has to offer, go to www.stampingbella.com.

Friday, August 17

Blame it all on SingSnap! I haven't made any pages this week because I was sooo hooked on singing. In fact, I just finished recording "Hotstuff" by Donna Summer. But I have so many projects to do! And SingSnap has backlogged me a lot more. My friends and family can attest, though, that singing is my first love. Someone should kick me in the butt, so I can go back to my craft desk...

A few days ago, I was tuned in to QVC on TV. They had their Craft Fair event for an entire 24 hours. Thanks to my online buddy Tina from Splitcoaststampers.com, I was able to catch the last 8 hours of the show. They were selling all about crafts from scrapbooking to knitting, papercrafts, sewing and even electronic gadgets related to crafting like digital cameras, computer software and printers. But I think the entire show was dominated by scrapbooking products. I only bought two items: the Memory Mixers II software and the Bazzil Cardstock Bundle. I was actually proud of myself because I didn't buy so much, mainly because I already have a lot of what they were offering, and also because the other stuff they had didn't interest me as much. But I really enjoyed watching how they demonstrated each product, and seeing the scrapbooking icons like Heidi Swapp and Lisa Bearnson. I was really proud to see fellow Filipina Anna Cabrera there, demonstrating the Purple Cows Laminator (which I already have too!). I did watch all the way till 12 midnight. It just amazes me how a certain product would be sold by thousands in just a few minutes. Makes me wonder how many scrapbookers and crafters there are in America. All the more in the whole world. Now I'm thinking, maybe if all the scrapbookers and crafters will come together, we can have a country. That would be fun!

Before I was hooked on SingSnap, I've been submitting my pages to magazines and online contests. I really want to get published. And yes, I would love to win a contest. But there are just sooo many creative people out there. It's funny when I finish a page, and I would be so happy about it thinking it's great. Then, I go online and see other's work, and they're usually way a lot better than mine. It's not frustrating to me at all. It is amazing how people can be so creative. Then you would say to yourself, "Why didn't I think of that???" I go to craft fairs and I see how these people think of something. Simple ideas I tell you. But they look really cool. And what's more, they're making money out of it. I was like: "If I had thought of that, I would have lots of money now!" Calling all of my muses, if I have even one! Where are you????

So, why do we scrapbook in the first place? It seems to me, that with all the scrapbooking trends in the past few years, people scrapbook to be recognized. I admit, that's one reason why I want to get published. This wave of new scrapbooking tools and supplies is very overwhelming. I know a lot of people who would like to buy and hoard. And it ends at that. I was like that at first. When I was just starting, I just loved to buy and look at other people's work in magazines and on the internet. Last year, I met this Creative Memories consultant in the military base we used to live in. She was having a crop in one of the party rooms. She had on display all the albums that she made. They were a lot of albums. I mean A LOT! But her pages weren't like those you see on the scrapbook magazines. They were simple layouts, using simple embellishments and a lot of journaling. I wasn't impressed at that time. I thought to myself, she's not all that good. But isn't scrapbooking supposed to be just that? To preserve those memories and events you captured with your camera? That's exactly what she did, and I'm pretty sure she still does. She wasn't scrapbooking for competition. She wasn't scrapbooking to get praises from other people. She was scrapbooking to keep every special moment in her family's lives. She was scrapbooking for her family. I salute her for that.

You might want to check this out:

Hello and welcome!

I have always loved crafting since I was little. But I officially
started as a scrapbooker in 2006, the same year I started blogging.
Along the way, I became a stamper, card maker and paper crafter as well.